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Tracy Silverman

About this Artist

Redefining the role of the violin in contemporary music, TRACY SILVERMAN has contributed significantly to the repertoire and development of the 6-string electric violin and what he calls “post-classical violin playing.” 

Lauded by BBC Radio as “the greatest living exponent of the electric violin”, Silverman’s groundbreaking work defies musical boundaries. Formerly first violinist with the innovative Turtle Island String Quartet, Silverman was named one of 100 distinguished alumni by The Juilliard School. A concert electric violinist, Silverman is the subject of several electric violin concertos composed specifically for him by Pulitzer winner John Adams, “Father of Minimalism” Terry Riley, Nico Muhly and Kenji Bunch, as well as the composer of 3 electric violin concertos of his own. He has performed as a soloist with the world’s finest orchestras at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Adelaide’s Festival Theatre, Sao Paulo’s Auditorio Ibirapuera, The Hollywood Bowl and Vienna’s Musikverein among many others.

A true eclectic, Silverman has recorded with the rock band Guster, contemporary music’s Paul Dresher Ensemble, jazz legend Billy Taylor and with the Calder Quartet. 

TV/internet and radio includes a solo Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday, A Prairie Home Companion and a profile on CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.

Mark Swed of the LA Times enthused, “Inspiring. Silverman is in a class of his own.” The Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein raved, “Blazing virtuosity. You will be astonished that anybody can play a fiddle like that” and Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, wrote, "Fleet agility and tangy expressivity with wailing hints of Jimi Hendrix." 

A long-standing advocate for music education, Silverman is an in-demand clinician and on the string faculty at Belmont University in Nashville, TN.

www.TracySilverman.com